Concealable apparel rack for closets



Nov. 25, 1958 s. M. FRIEDENREICH 2,861,300

CONCEALABLEAPPAREL RACK FOR CLOSETS Filed Feb. 6, 1956 37 ll ll ,1)

'59 v 'i. I, 38

' I INVENTOR.

J STANLEY M. FRIEDENREJQH ATTORNEY.

United tates Patent 2,861,360 CONGIEALABLEAPP'AREURACKFGRTCLOSETS Stanley M. Friedenreich, New Hyde Park, N. Y.

Application February 6,1956, Serial-No. 563,480. 6 Claims. or. 20 -111);

This invention relates to what I term aconcealable rack adapted to be mounted in connection with garment closets for support of various types and kinds of apparel in raised and substantially concealed position at the upper portion of t a clset.- Further, my invention deals with supporting- .brackets forthe rack secured to the upper portion of the closet and including means for maintaining-the rack in substantially concealed position at the-top ofthe closet while, at the same time, permitting the rackto be lowered to thefrontopening of the closet for accessibility 'tothe articles supported-uponthe rack;

The novel-features of the'invention-will bebest understood from the following description, when taken together with theaccompanying drawing, in which certain-embodiments of the invention are disclosed and, in which, the separate parts are designated by suitable reference characters inea'ch of the views and, in which:

Fi'gil is a'diagrarnmatic perspective view of a corner portionof a closet; illustrating one of my improved racks arranged in the raised and partially'concealed' position at the to'p of the closet.

Fig; 2 .is a detailed upper corner 'view of part of the rack shown in Fig. 1 detached.

Fig.3 is a sectional 'view through'a closet, diagram matically illustrating the raised position of the rackin full'lines and the lowered use thereof in dot-dash'lines.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detailed'view illustratingone of the brackets and showing part of the rack in itslowered position in full lines andin raised position in dot-dash lines; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the upper portion of the rack, diagrammatically illustrating arrangement of neckties thereon, the section being substantially on the line 55 .of Fig. l.

To illustrate one adaptation and use of my invention, I have diagrammatically illustrated at-'inFigs. l, 3 and 4 -:of: the drawing a part. of acloset, 11 representing a door: opening,. controlled .in.the structure shown by- .sliding 'doors, part of-one-of. whichmis indicated at. 12,? the doors being slidable on rails, as indicated at 13 in Fig. 4 of the drawing.

The rails 13 are supported in connection with an upper wood frame 14, constituting part of the doorframe and to this frame are secured two left and right brackets 15, 15'. Aside from being left and right, the two brackets are identical. Therefore, the latter brief description of one bracket will apply to both.

As noted in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawing, within the closet is a shelf 16, below which garments are usually hung and above the shelf is a compartment 17, the forward upper portion of which is usually dead-space that is put to no use whatever.

It is the purpose of my invention to provide an apparel supporting rack 18, which is movably coupled with the brackets 15, 15 and is adapted to be normally stored in the upper compartment 17 of the closet, as diagrammatically seen in Fig. 3 of the drawing, and, then, be

ice

2, lowered to the accessible use position, as'noted; for example, in dot-dash lines in Fig} 3.

The rack comprises a main rectangular rod'frame 19; to theopposed sidesjof which are welded or otherwise secured elongated- U-frames' 20, these frames forming what; might be regarded as supporting-and guiding rails for support of the rack in raised, as well 'as-lowered positions.

Any type-andkind of apparel supporting meanscan be fixed to the frame 19- for support of apparel 'of-'ditferent types and-kinds. To illustrate oneadaptation'aud use of my invention, I haveillustrated 'two hat; supporting loops 21, the loops including rodswhich extend to and are welded to opposed sides of theframe 19 and one ofthese rods'is illustrated at 22 iii-Fig. 2 of the drawing. To this rod and the right side of the frame 19 isxwelded a substantially L-shaped1rod'23, which includes a series of crossrodmembers 24" disposedinterm'ediate" the rod 22 and the lower leg '25 of the rod 23.

Above'the rod 22-apair'of necktie supporting members 26 and 27' are welded to the sideof the frame. 19; themembers'ibeing in "the form of loops havingjupwardly extending space loop ends 26"and 27', as clearly noted in Fig. 2 of the drawing:

Considering Fig. 5 of the drawing, it willappear that the member 26 is welded to'the lower' surface of the frame 19; whereas, the member 27 is .spaced above the upper surface .of the. frame.19'and includes ends that arewelded to the inner surface of the side member of theframe, as indicated at 28 in Fig.2 of the drawing.

As noted 'in' Fig.v 5 of the drawing, neckties canbe folded around bothof the rods of the members 26,- 27 or around 'each'of the rods of such members, the1att'e'r being indicated in dotand dash lines in .Fig.v 5, where parts of neckties 29 and 30 are shown. It-willbe apparent that the ends of the neckties will lie over the rods 22, 24 and possibly the rod 25to support the same sub stantially .parallel to the frame 19 whentherack18 is in either of the positions shown in Fig.-.3 of the drawing.

It. willi also be noted in Fig. 3 of the drawing that a pair. of hats 31 are illustratedas supported in thehat loops 21 The arrangement of the hats and neckties on the .rackare omitted in Fig.1 of the drawing in order to more clearly illustrate the rack structure, but the showings of Figs. 3and 5 are made in order to illustrate support of articles of apparel uponthe-rack- At this time, it is also pointed out thattherackcanbe shaped or characterized to support various types and kinds of articles of apparel within the framestructure-of the rack.

Turninggnow-tothe supporting brackets ,15,-15, the bracket, 15 will be specificallyrdescribed. This bracket' comprises. :a .plate 32, having .,an -;angularly, onset-dipper: portion 33 which, in turn, includes an upstanding angular portion 34, the latter being secured by suitable fastening means to the frame 14, as indicated by the screw 35. The plate 32 has, at its upper inner portion, a grooved pin 36, in which the frame 20 is arranged, the grooving of the pin thus establishing a definite coupling of the rack, preventing displacement or detachment from the closet after the installation or hanging.

On the plate 32 are inwardly extending pins 37, 38 and 39, which also operate in conjunction with the frames 20 to support the rack in raised concealed position, as well as lowered accessible position and also to guide the rack in its movement from one position to the other. The three pins serve to guide the rack in swinging upwardly from the lowered to the raised position, as will be apparent from a consideration of Fig. 4 of the drawing. The pin 37 keeps the frame 20 in close proximity to the grooved pin 36; whereas, the pins 38 and 39 avoid excessive swinging of the rack in the operation of raising the same. However, when fully raised, the weight of the apparel supported upon the rack will cause the upper end of the rack to swing downwardly and this downwardswinging movement is checked by I the pin 37.

While the rack would be self-supporting in this position, it is also preferable that the pin 38 be so arranged as to be in alinernent with the frames 20, so as to prevent accidental vibratory downward movement and this is clearly noted in the dot and dash showing of the rack 18 in Fig. 4 of the drawing. From this position, when it is desired to lower the rack, the lower rail of the frame 19 is grasped and the lower portion of the rack is forcibly swung inwardly in order to clear the pin 38, after which the rack can be lowered to the full line position, which ispartially indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawing and, in this position, the rack is supported by the pin 36 and the pin 39, the pin 39 controlling the angularity 'of the rack when in its lowered position.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: 7 1. A bracket for movably supporting and guiding racks of the character described, said bracket comprising a plate having an integral angularly extending portion at one surface and edge thereof, said portion including an angularly extending part, the plate having, on said surface, a plurality of spaced guide and stop pins for engaging a rack in movement relatively to the bracket, and at least one of said pins being grooved.

2. A bracket for movably supporting and guiding racks of the character described, said bracket comprising a plate having an integral angularly extending portion at one surface and edge thereof, said portion including an angularly extending part, the plate having, on said surface, a plurality of spaced guide and stop pins for engaging a rack in movement relatively to the bracket,

at least one of said pins being grooved, and one of the other pins being disposed in close proximity to said grooved pin.

3. The combination with a closet having a door opening, a shelf at the upper rear portion of the closet adjacent the top of the door opening and a compartment at the top of the closet above said shelf, of an openwork rack, a pair of brackets secured to the closet at sides and exposed at the door opening, said rack comprising a rectangular main rod frame, U-shaped rails at sides of the main frame, said main frame having spaced rod means for supporting articles thereon, and each of said brackets having a plurality of spaced and alined pins engaged by said U-shaped rails for guiding and supporting the rack in movement from a stored position in said top compartment to a lowered position in said door opening.

4. The combination with a closet having a door opening, a shelf at the upper rear portion of the closet adjacent the top of the door opening and a compartment at the top of the closet above said shelf, of an open-work rack, a pair of brackets secured to the closet at sides and exposed at the door opening, said rack comprising a rectangular main rod frame, U-shaped rails at sides of the main frame, said main frame having spaced rod means for supporting articles thereon, each of said brackets having a plurality of spaced and alined pins engaged by said U-shaped rails for guiding and supporting the rack in movement from a stored position in said top compartment to a lowered position in said door opening, and said means comprising a plurality of shaped rods Welded to the main rod frame and forming article supporting members.

5. The combination with a closet having a door opening, a shelf at the upper rear portion of the closet adjacent the top of the door opening and a compartment at the top of the closet above said shelf, of an openwork rack, a pair of brackets secured to the closet at sides and exposed at the door opening, said rack comprising a rectangular main rod frame, U-shaped rails at sides of the main frame, said main frame having spaced rod means for supporting articles thereon, each of said brackets having a plurality of spaced and alined pins engaged by said U-shaped rails for guiding and supporting the rack in movement from a stored position in said top compartment to a lowered position in said door opening, each of said brackets comprising a plate having angularly extending supporting portions, and at least one of the pins of each bracket being grooved to receive said rails.

6. The combination with a closet having a door opening, a shelf at the upper rear portion of the closet adjacent the top of the door opening and a compartment at the top of the closet above said shelf, of an open-work rack, a pair of brackets secured to the closet at sides and exposed at the door opening, said rack comprising a rectangular main rod frame, U-shaped rails at sides of the main frame, said main frame having spaced rod means for supporting articles thereon, each of said brackets having a plurality of spaced and alined pins engaged by said U-shaped rails for guiding and supporting the rack in movement from a stored position in said top compartment to a lowered position in said door opening, each of said brackets comprising a plate having angularly extending supporting portions, and at least one of the pins of each bracket being grooved to receive said rails, another pin of each bracket being arranged adjacent the grooved pin, and the other pins of each bracket supporting the rack in stored and lowered positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,243 Hodges et al Aug. 30, 1887 729,110 Young May 26, 1903 2,261,605 Smith Nov. 4, 1941 

